30-year-old schoolteacher and former beauty queen, Tara Grinstead, vanished without a trace on October 22, 2005. Despite national news coverage, a massive search and thorough investigation, she has never been found.

About the Case

On October 22, 2005, Tara attended a local beauty pageant a few miles from her home in Ocilla, Georgia. Later that night, she attended a cookout for a former county school superintendent’s family and went home around 11:00 p.m.

Tara has not been seen since.

The following Monday when Tara did not show up to teach her high school history class, co-workers called the police and reported her missing.

Police arrived at Tara’s home, but found no signs of forced entry or a struggle. The clothes she wore the night of the cookout were in a pile on her bedroom floor. Her cell phone was charging in a wall outlet. A broken lamp was propped up against the wall, and her alarm clock was under the bed. The time displayed was six hours off.

Tara’s purse and keys were missing, but her unlocked car was parked in the driveway. The driver’s seat was pushed back farther than what Tara, who was 5’3″, would have set it at. There was an envelope full of cash on the dashboard, but it is unknown if this was Tara’s or her abductor’s.

Tara’s dog and cat were still inside the home. Her family said she would never abandon her pets.

A latex glove was found in Tara’s front yard that contained male DNA and a fingerprint. Police sent it to a laboratory for DNA testing, but the results were inconclusive.

There were a couple persons of interest in the case. One was her ex-

Marcus Harper

boyfriend, an ex-Ocilla police officer and Army Ranger, named Marcus T. Harper. The couple dated for five years before ending the relationship a year before Tara disappeared. He then began dating an 18-year-old girl.

At the time of her disappearance, Harper was seen in Ocilla between 2:00 a.m. and 4:45 a.m. sitting in the squad car of police officer, Sean Fletcher, for a ride along. Tara had lodged a complaint against Fletcher at some point before October 22, but the reason is unclear. Harper’s last known contact with Tara occurred eight days before she vanished.

Harper later claimed in an interview that Tara called him one night, hysterical and crying, threatening to end her life if she found out he was dating someone else.

Anthony Vickers, a former student of Tara’s claimed they had an affair. Police records showed that Tara filed a complaint against Vickers for showing up at her home and harassing her. However, after checking his alibi, police ruled him out as a suspect.

The case was complicated even more when it was revealed that Tara had dated several men before she disappeared. Police interviewed all of them, but nothing came from it.

On February 10, 2015, police drained a pond in a wooded area off Satilla Street in Fitzgerald, but her body was not found.

A few months after Tara vanished, 28-year-old Orlando, Florida resident Jennifer Kesse also vanished. Some believe the two cases may be related. Both women were young, attractive, and last seen at home before they disappeared. However, no evidence connects the two cases.

True Crime Diva’s Thoughts

Oscilla is a very small town, so I think it’s more than likely that Tara knew her abductor. This was no random act of violence.

Here’s what I think happened to Tara. Sometime after she got home from the cookout, someone known to her knocked on her door and she opened the door willingly, maybe even let them in. I do not believe she was killed inside her own home because there would have been blood evidence of that. I believe she was forced out of her own home into the car of the killer or killers, and then murdered sometime after.

The question is why did this person show up at her house so late? What did this person have to talk to her about that couldn’t wait until morning? Or did the person go there with the intention of murdering Tara? If so, why? What was the motive?

I read that Tara may have been having an affair with a married man. Heath Dykes was a captain in the Perry Police Department at the time. He apparently called her around 20 times the night she disappeared and his business card was found wedged in Tara’s front door. I don’t believe he put the business card there because Tara would already know how to get a hold of him IF she was having an affair with him. Perhaps, the real killer put it there to get attention on Dykes as a person of interest. But why on earth was he calling her so much that night?

I do not think Vickers had anything to do with it. He was so young at the time. I really do not think someone that young could pull off the perfect murder without telling a single person what he did. I also question if the affair he claims he had with Tara was real. She doesn’t strike me as the type to risk her job over a former student.

The envelope full of cash is interesting. I highly doubt if the money was Tara’s she would left it in her car for anyone to come along and steal it. The motive here obviously wasn’t money. It was definitely personal.

So, who had the most to gain from her murder? I think Harper makes the most logical suspect considering he was in town around the time she disappeared. I’m guessing the killer knew she was at the cookout which would explain that person showing up so late at her house.

That is true. Nice catch! Well I’m thinking the killer had help so it’s possible one drove her car and the other one was in another vehicle for whatever reason. Maybe while disposing of the body, I don’t know lol.

sweetface

I am completely with you on your theory that the abductor was known to Tara, and that it was likely a guy she had been seeing at that time or perhaps an ex partner. Now as to who it was – your guess is as good as mine. I do not believe her case is related to Jennifer Kesse.

I am not entirely sure her ex boyfriend had anything to gain from murdering her? She seemed very hung up on him and was hysterical when she found out he was seeing other people but I do not think that would be reason enough to commit such a crime. Who knows, she did send a strange e-mail to his mother before her disappearance which seemed to indicate a possible pregnancy. It was very vague and it could also just have been a dramatic attempt to get attention from her ex partner.

The latex glove could be a red herring. It would be a very stupid abductor to leave such evidence behind — but it’s certainly not impossible.

Tara’s case pains me because she was a strong, independent woman enjoying life and doing what she was passionate about. It breaks my heart that she just vanished into thin air one night and there have never been any leads or answers.